The Gruen Transfer is my favourite show. Hands down. It’s required reading (or watching) for those in our industry and gives the rest of the world an insight into what we advertisers do each day.

So naturally I’m busting with excitement for Gruen Planet which airs tonight on ABC1 at 9pm.

Over an eight-week season Gruen Planet will delve into the world of public relations – the world of ‘spin’ with Gruen Transfer host Wil Anderson and panelists Russel Howcroft and Todd Sampson.

“Persuasion is persuasion,” says Sampson, pointing out that the techniques used in PR and damage control are not dissimilar to those used to persuade consumers to buy a product.

Topics will include a proposal to run an ad during grand final week asserting that footballers should not be role models, the rebranding of Rupert Murdoch and a pitch to persuade Australians they hate the Melbourne Cup.

Tonight’s episode will focus on the political survival of prime minister Julie Gillard, described as ‘The only leader on Earth more besieged than Gaddafi’. The show will look at how she should be repositioned as a political brand but will also cover SABMiller’s acquisition of Fosters to tackle the question: How do you sell Aussie beers that are no longer Aussie? And do brands really need to worry about patriotism?

The last part of the show will ask contestants to come up with a campaign to convince Australians that they should stop expecting our footballers to be role models in the run up to grand final week for the NRL and AFL.

And for those of you miss tonight’s episode: a repeat of the show will air on Thursday at 9.30pm on ABC2 or you can catch-up with iView.

At the Brio Group office, we all love a bit of Gruen banter. Thursday mornings are often spent chatting over the previous night’s The Pitch ads, or laughing over the witty banter thrown between Todd Sampson and Russell Howcroft.

And in news just in, ABC’s The Gruen Transfer is set to take on the world! The successful Aussie format has been picked up by US-based international format distribution company, Fox LOOK, a division of Fox Networks Group and will be renamed “The Big Sell”. For more information, take a read of Campaign Brief article.

Now in its third season in Australia, The Gruen Transfer has gone from strength to strength since its 2008 launch. Reported figures reveal the Australian audience numbers continue to grow; September 8’s episode set a new viewing record: almost 1.8 million viewers across ABC1 and ABC2.

I know we can’t get enough of it here … it will be interesting to see how The Big Sell will be received in the USA.